


No Need for Warrens

by wildenhopps (deecherrywolf)



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-03-06
Packaged: 2018-05-25 00:34:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6172990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deecherrywolf/pseuds/wildenhopps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Judy gets a surprise call from her parents, asking her to visit this weekend, unaware what awaits her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Need for Warrens

**Author's Note:**

> This idea was playing at me after reading fics about Nick meeting her parents. I kind of put my own ideals onto Judy in a sense, but I think it really works for her! I hope anyone who reads enjoys.

Judy would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. It wasn't odd that her father and mother had phoned her, but what was odd was how they insisted she come down to Bunnyburrow for the weekend. She had told them that she didn't have time, that taking time off from work required more planning than just a call from the folks. Unfortunately, Chief Bogo had heard and insisted she go. She was quite aware that he probably insisted she go so she'd get off his tail about wanting more cases, but she conceded. Now, here she sat on a bus headed to her hometown, her nose twitching as she wondered just what her parents had wanted.

An incoming text made her relax, if not a little bit. It was from Nick, stating he was bored already and that they partnered him with Officer McHorn while she was out. She smiled and shook her head, sending him a text saying it was only for a couple of days. But really, after being Nick's partner for so long and working so much, a couple of days actually seemed so much longer than what they truly were. It was part of the reason that she was so nervous. 

Her eyes took in the Bunnyburrow sign, its endless population count ticking away happily as she entered into town. The bus stop came before she knew it, her mother and a couple of her siblings (there had been 275 last time she counted...) were awaiting her. A small spark of joy lanced through her heart at the sight of her mother lighting up. It felt good to see how happy her mother was.

Judy stepped off the bus, carrying a modest bag of clothes. “Hey mom!”

“Oh, Judy! I'm so glad you could make it! Your father is already at home, cooking up some delicious zucchini lasagna.”

“Mm! That sounds good, what's the occasion?”

Her mother flushed, which was suspicious. “Oh, well, you'll just have to find out when you get to the home, now won't you?”

Judy squinted her eyes, nose twitching as she followed her mom. Were they having another litter? She already had more siblings than she could count, but they were rabbits, after all, it wasn't uncommon for them. She bit back a 'congratulations' while they walked to their burrow. She smiled and held her bag closer to her as her mother opened the door for her. She stepped in – the smell of zucchini lasagna permeating through the air, as well as a side of carrot soup. Home smelled like, well, home – nothing like the mildewy smell of her apartment, but she loved that little apartment – regardless of the comforting scents before her now.

“Jude the dude!” 

Her father suddenly wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close while her mother smiled at them.

“All right, I'm here now! Tell me the good news!”

Bonnie and Stu both blinked in confusion before Bonnie smiled hesitantly. “Well, it's not good news just yet-”

“More like,” interrupted Stu. “It will be good news once you meet him.”

“Meet – wait what?”

“Am I late?”

Judy looked over to see a stranger enter their home. He wore a pristine suit, but was holding a rather large carrot cake. The hare smiled, his black ears twitching. “Looks like I came just in time.”

“Judy, “ spoke Bonnie slowly, hesitantly. “This is Scott Bloom, he's from Zootopia himself, but grew up here too-”

Okay, but that didn't explain why he was here?

Stu wrapped an arm around his wife. “When he heard about the infamous Judy Hopps, he suddenly remembered our farm and remembered his home. He contacted us up and wanted to meet you.”

Judy turned to Scott, who sat the carrot cake down, a blush appearing over his white fur. “Oh well, I didn't mean for you to travel all this way, though. I had thought maybe I could have gotten your number and called you for a coffee in the city.”

“That would have been nice...” Judy found herself saying, but she felt in a state of shock right now. What in the world were her parents thinking? What was this?

Bonnie smiled. “Fantastic! Let's all sit down to eat then, hm?”

“So you aren't having another litter?”

Bonnie's eyes widened. “Heavens no! What gave you that idea?”

Judy sat down at the table, noticing that her mother had set it up for just the four of them – meaning her other siblings were off doing their own things, already fed and who knows what. She watched Scott sit beside her. He was nice to look at, at the very least. His white fur was pristine and the checkered black that dotted his face in areas and his ears were charming. But this... whatever this was, that her mother was hoping it would be, would never happen. She ate a piece of her zucchini lasagna. “It's great dad.”

“So, uh, Scott.” spoke her dad. “What do you do in Zootopia?”

Scott's ears raised. “I'm Zootopia's finest accountant! I also own CabbagePatch, which is a small bank branch. It's really my side job, but it helps.”

Bonnie made an 'oo' noise while Judy merely nodded, watching as Scott used his fork and knife to cut into the lasagna. “This looks divine, Mr. Hopps.”

“Please, call me Stu or even dad!”

Judy coughed on her drink while Scott's white fur showed his blush.

“Dad!”

“What? I'm kidding, I'm kidding!”

Judy frowned. No he wasn't, and this whole thing was so painfully obvious now. The rest of the dinner went by well, but as soon as Scott excused himself, exchanging numbers with Judy and kissing her on the cheek on the way out, Judy turned to her parents with glowering eyes.

“What was that?” she demanded.

“That, was a fine young hare that's interested in you.”

“What did I say about 'fine young hares'? Do you remember the Ernest incident?”

Stu waved a paw while Bonnie placed a hand on Judy's shoulder. “Ernest was... well, we weren't sure about that one, but we understood you were so focused on becoming a police officer and moving to Zootopia, we dropped the idea of you and Ernest taking care of the farm for us.... but Scott, well, he lives where you do. Would it hurt to just... try?”

“I don't need you guys helping me with that, okay?”

Stu held his wife's paw. “We'd just feel better to know you were more secure.”

“I have a good job, I can defend myself, and besides, I have Nick-”

A landmine had been stepped on, her father's normally gentle face turned into a scowl, which caused Judy to roll her eyes.

“Don't give me any grief over Nick when you buy pies from past-bully Gideon.”

“Gideon is a fine young man that had issues when he was young, this Nick guy though...”

“Dad, you haven't even met him!”

“What your father is trying to say is he is no hare, Judy. We only care for your happiness you know. Soon enough you'll want to start a warren of you own.”

“Mom!” Judy was mortified, just at the thought. “I'm not ready for that! I'm so busy, I wouldn't have time.”

“You'd make time, plus – if you build a nest with this Scott fellow, you wouldn't have to work – you could raise your litter.”

Judy swallowed, wanting to say 'but what if I don't want to quit working? What if I don't want to have a litter? Or any bunnies?', but somehow she knew saying that now would open a whole other can of worms. 

“I'll give it a thought, okay?”

Both Bonnie and Stu nodded, both looking hopeful at their daughter. Judy excused herself to take a bath, before she did so – she noticed a couple of new texts from Nick. She opened it up, smiling as she saw him ask 'how's the boonies?' and more random texts 'McHorn is a hard ass' and then a selfie Nick took of him wearing her name tag, which made her roll her eyes. She text him back real quick with a 'it's boring'

She tossed her phone on one of the beds in the burrow, she was sure it use to be hers, but really? Who knew. She went to take her bath, taking in what had happened and really thought about it all. She could go on a couple of dates with this Scott guy, she guessed. But the idea of having bunnies... she wasn't so keen on. She liked kids, but she wasn't sure if she wanted any herself. Why lay around having bunnies when she could be changing the world in more remarkable ways? Her parents obviously wanted her to have bunnies, but... that wasn't her.

\- - -

Nick had been surprised by the mere 'it's boring' response by Judy. Mostly because that didn't sound like her – he had thought she would be happy to go see her parents. It had been a little while since she last did. Granted the last visit had been morose from what he had been told, but this had been a happy occasion. For Judy to “be bored” was odd. He fiddled with his phone, wanting to muzzle-time her, but unsure if it would be right to. Her parents wouldn't appreciate it, especially if her parents were just as wary of foxes as most bunnies tended to be.

He perked up as his phone vibrated with a new text – from Judy, of course, but he frowned when he saw that she was coming back to Zootopia sooner than planned. Uh oh... something was wrong. He decided to risk it, he muzzle-timed her – waiting for her to pick up. When she did, he stared at her – eyes narrowing.

“What's wrong, Carrots?”

“Who said anything was wrong?”

He smiled. “Well, my intuition was – but mostly you coming home early, more than anything else.”

Nick noticed her fur was a little damp and he wondered if she just got out of the bath – an odd thought to have, he brushed it aside as she sighed. “I don't want to talk about it right now.”

“Hmm... Fight with the 'rents?”

“Nick, I'm serious, I don't want to talk about it right now.”

“Okay, fine! Will you at least take some selfies for me? Show me your home a bit before you head back?”

“Of course.”

The warmth of those words made Nick smile which in turn caused Judy to smile. 

“I'll be back Sunday afternoon.”

“You can stay longer if you want.”

“No, no... I can't.”

“Oh, well. I can't wait to see you.”

“Me too.”

There was an awkward silence as they stared at each other before Judy finally said good night, closing out of muzzle-time. Nick stared at the screen – his home screen now greeting his face.

“Night Carrots...”

\- - -

“What on earth are you doing?”

Judy jerked her paw in close to her now, spinning around to see Scott. He was dressed in a red button up shirt and khaki pants, looking suave without really trying. Judy wiggled her phone at him. “Taking some selfies.”

Scott nodded, watching her take a picture of herself against the picket fence. “Can you send a couple to me?”

Judy's ears lowered as she raised a brow. “Awfully forward, aren't you?”

Scott grinned, his own ears twitching as he stepped closer to her. “Just confident.”

Judy rolled her eyes, but smiled at him. “Okay, I was going to send them to someone anyways.”

“Oh? Not another hare, I hope.”

“No, he's a fox. He's my partner back at the police department. You may have heard of him – Nick Wilde.”

Scott rubbed a paw under his chin. “Mm... can't say I have, but that's no matter. Here, let's take one together.”

Judy was about to argue, but Scott took the phone from her and held it above the two of them, taking a quick selfie before handing it back to Judy, who was surprised the rather candid photo turned out so well – Scott's smile looked natural and Judy looked happy. They looked a happy rabbit couple – something her parents wanted to see.

“Make sure to send that one to me.”

“Where are you going?”

Scott turned, his eyes teasing. “Missing me already? I have a few associates I need to meet with, I even did yesterday – but you were much more important in meeting, Ms. Hopps. I hope to hear from you soon, as well as seeing those selfies in my inbox.”

Judy watched him leave, her paws fiddling with her phone in a nervous fashion. A few moments later she returned to taking her selfies – taking pictures of the areas she wanted to show Nick before finishing up, she picked a few out and hit send – sending them to Nick and Scott.

\- - -

Nick sat at the bus stop, slurping at a can of soda when he noticed an incoming media message from Judy. He had been bored with this day off, having nothing better to do than enjoy the weather while he waited for his partner, now he could look at her photos while he waited for her. He opened it up, smiling as the pictures began to load. Judy's home was as quaint as he imagined it to be, so was the farm. But as quaint as it was, it was also beautiful. He smiled as he pawed along until he got to a picture of Judy with some rabbit. His brows raised as he eyed the man. He recognized that rabbit. He had tried to bank at that dinky bank – CabbagePatch, only to find you had to have some lousy '1k deposit'. As if people carried around a thousand dollars like it was nothing!

But what was that guy doing with Judy? Why was he in Bunnyburrow?

He felt the urge to lick his lips as he kept staring at this oddly placed image and he wondered if Judy had even meant to send it to him in the first place. He pocketed his phone and threw his soda can in the trash, perking up as a bus appeared – but no Judy. He sighed, curious on the image and if Judy was really coming back this afternoon instead.

“Nick?”

Nick perked up and looked to see Judy, realizing she must have gotten off at the other end of the bus. He got off the bench, smiling at her. “Hey Carrots, how was the fam?”

Judy was oddly silent, giving him a weird look. “We can talk about that later, did I miss any cases?”

“Nothing more than usual going on here.”

“Usual is a really broad term for Zootopia, Nick.”

“Calm your cotton ball, Carrots. You didn't miss any important case. Chief knows better than have to deal listening to you if he did.”

Judy laughed, taking hold of Nick's paw to drag him off. Nick followed and soon they both let go of their hands and just walked side by side. Nick could feel her stiffness and wondered just what happened and if it had anything to do with that hare in the photo.

As they approached the street Judy lived on, she suddenly turned towards him, looking somewhat ill.

“My parents tried to set me up.”

Nick felt like he should feign surprise, but that wasn't him. “So that's who that was in the picture you sent me.”

“Picture? Oh! Oh no, I sent it to you?”

“Mm... you did.”

“Oh! I'm sorry, it wasn't meant for you.”

“No worries – so this guy, your mom and dad like him?”

“Well, I'm not sure if they really like him as much as they like the thought of me being with someone to be more “safe” and “secure”, as they word it. Even though I'm a police officer!”

“They're your parents, Carrots. They just worry about you.”

“I know! But...”

“We all know you can take care of yourself.”

“But I have you.”

Nick jerked at that, looking down at Judy. Her ears were lowered and she was looking at him in such a vulnerable way that he just wanted to hold her. Instead he merely shook his head.

“Of course you have me, but you know what your parents mean.”

Judy rolled her eyes now. “Yeah, they were bugging me about building a warren.”

“A what?”

“You know... a warren! Don't foxes have those?”

“What are we talking about here?”

“You know, when two rabbits come together and have bunnies they become a warren.”

“Oh... OH! Foxes have those. We call them skulks.”

Judy's nose twitched before wrinkling, making Nick roll his eyes. “Not my choice. Besides, I'm a skulk of my own.”

Judy watched him walk a little bit ahead before smiling. She caught up to him and nodded. “I agree – I'm a perfectly fine warren on my own.”

Nick's eyes twinkled. “What? No bunnies in your future? You even looked so happy with Mr. Checker Face.”

Judy punched his arm playfully. “You'd miss me too much if I did.”

Nick murmured an 'ow' before sighing.

“That I would Carrots, that I would.”

The two of them strolled leisurely now, linking their paws without effort.


End file.
